The EGM staff gives their picks for the best games of 2011, as well as our personalized off-topic awards. For this installment, it's EGM news editor Eric L. Patterson. READ MORE

The children of the 8- and 16-bit eras have grown up to become the ones with the power to program, and be it out of a love for nostalgia or just a longing for the days when gaming was simpler and more innocent, they’ve never been more in love with making games that wrap present-day design concepts with experiences you’d swear could have existed on long-gone platforms. So, we decided to take a look at some of our favorite retro-inspired releases from recent years—games that, while conceived and designed during the 21st century, pay homage to their forefathers in one way or another. READ MORE